Management system guidance
7.0 Support
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7.3 Awareness
The guidance shown on this page is relevant to ISO 9001, ISO 14001 and ISO 45001. This requirement is comparable to previous versions of the standards. If you need a procedure and forms to help determine and control your business's human resources, click here.
The content of awareness training may include items covered in induction training, specific training, toolbox talks or any other quality, environmental, or health and safety issues that affect a number of employees in the workplace.
You should seek evidence to confirm that this requirement has been applied by your organization to ensure that the people who need to be made aware now include all the people who work on your organization’s behalf that affect the conformity of your organization’s management system or products. You ensure that these people are aware of:
- The quality, environmental, or health and safety policies;
- Relevant quality, environmental, or health and safety objectives;
- Their contribution to the effectiveness of the management system;
- Benefits of improved performance;
- The implications of not conforming to management system requirements.
Awareness training
The awareness training does not need to follow the format of long classroom sessions. Training techniques can include short training segments supplemented with videos and hands-on demonstrations that address key elements of the management system.
Other methods to promote and reinforce the health and safety awareness training sessions include communication via electronic bulletin boards, posters, newsletters and informational meetings.
The requirements for general awareness training apply to all employees including those whose work may cause significant environmental impacts or safety risks. Awareness training is intended to provide an overview of the organization’s environmental policy, objectives and targets, and overall management system. Your organization must ‘establish and maintain procedures to make its employees and members at each relevant function and level aware of’:
- The importance of conformance with the policy and the management system procedures and requirements;
- The actual and the potential significant impacts and risks of the activities, products, and/or services;
- The benefits of improved personal performance;
- The employees’ roles and responsibilities in achieving conformance with policies and procedures;
- The employees’ roles and responsibilities towards emergency preparedness and response;
- The potential consequences of departure from specified operating procedures.
The awareness training materials may also include additional elements that address:
- The organization’s objectives and targets;
- The employees’ actions to minimize/eliminate impacts and risks and how they can contribute;
- The importance of compliance with operational and regulatory requirements;
- The overall improvement of the management system performance and the potential financial return;
- The importance to interested parties.
Induction training
General awareness training should be undertaken in accordance with task demands. Awareness training is not skills-acquisition, but rather broad-based training provided to increase employee awareness of particular safety issues.
All new recruits (workers, contractors and temporary staff) must receive induction briefings and periodic health and safety management system awareness training appropriate to the duration of their responsibilities to ensure they are aware of importance of ethical behaviour e.g. codes of conduct, internal management, working relationships, fair treatment, confidential reporting mechanisms, protecting anonymity, no-blame-culture, awareness campaigns, notice boards, posters, training programmes including:
- Core values and policies;
- Company overview;
- History of the company;
- The people and structure;
- Contract of employment;
- Induction pack;
- Health, safety and environmental briefing.
The induction record should be completed, signed by each participant and sent to the Human Resources Manager.
Tool-box talks and team meetings
Toolbox talks and/or team meetings should be conducted regulary in operational areas (non-office-based staff) by the relevant Supervisor. Key health and safety related information is included in fortnightly team meetings in all areas.
Toolbox talks and team meetings are not intended for the acquisition of specific skills, instead, they are used by Line Managers and Supervisors to provide broad-based information that increases awareness of specific health and safety issues. Content should include information about your management system, health and safety alerts and/or any other issues that affect workers or the workplace. Toolbox talks and team meetings should be used to:
- Manage and communicate essential information such as safety alerts and other communications;
- Review of relevant health and safety information such as incident reports, investigation outcomes, performance data, H&S committee minutes, etc;
- Induct staff into and ‘sign off’ their understanding of specific hazards and the controls identified;
- Provide a forum for workers to raise any site safety issues and identify corrective actions;
- Ensure awareness is maintained throughout all workplaces.
At the beginning of any tool-box-talks, the Attendance List should be completed, signed by each participant and sent to the Human Resources Manager.
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